Mount Timpanogos remains one of my favorite hikes that I’ve ever done. I return to the trail every year, and it never fails to take my breath away! If you’ve never summitted Mount Timpanogos Utah before, this is the guide for you. This post specifically gives details on the Timpooneke trail. The first part of the post includes a description of the hike itself, cell coverage, fees, parking, etc. If you don’t really care and just want to know what to bring to be prepared, go ahead and skip down to the heading “things you need to be aware of.”
An overview
This hike is just plain beautiful. It includes a variety of scenery that changes every few miles, which I’ll get into in better detail later on in the post. Definitely plan to be free all day for this one though. It’s a difficult hike for sure. Mostly because of the length. It’s a 14.2 mile hike out and back, with about 4,471 ft of elevation gain. There are a lot of places where the hike levels off and you’re just on a beautiful walk, but when it gets steep, it gets STEEP. Is this a family hike? Sure! Lot’s of families do it, even with fairly young kids. Keep in mind though, you’ll be hiking the whole day if you do bring little ones. I’d guess with a young family it would take at least 6 hours to summit. I did this hike with my 11 year old sister and we took about that long.
If at this point you’re feeling like this hike is going to be harder then you bargained for, you need to do two things. First, finish reading this post! (I’m hoping the pictures might convince you that it’s worth it:). Second, check out my post about the lake blanche trail, a 7 mile out and back hike that will definitely challenge you but won’t take your whole day to summit! A good option if this hike isn’t going to be a good fit for right now.
Cell Coverage
Coverage on mount timpanogos is pretty good all the way to the summit. There are one or two dead spots, but in general you’ll be able to get in contact with someone in case of an emergency. I hiked timp with some of my family this year and about half a mile away from the summit, my mom was carrying a conversation over the phone with her sister with no problems.
Parking and fees
The only fee required for this hike is the six dollar parking fee. You’ll likely be starting this hike well before the booth to pay the fee is open, but that’s all right! You’ll pass a number of camping spots and picnic areas right off the road on your way to the trailhead. If you pull off into any of these, you’ll see a small brown box where you can pick up a payment slip to fill out. You’ll need to bring six dollars in cash to leave in the envelope provided, which you’ll drop back into the box. There will be a receipt included that you need to leave on your dash so that you won’t be issued a parking ticket.
There is a parking lot at the trailhead but it is QUITE small. So, if you decide to hike during timp’s most popular months (July and August), you’ll need to wake up bright and early to get a parking spot. When I say bright and early, you should get to the trailhead around 1am-1:30am to be safe. Yep, you might as well not even go to bed. Actually do though, because you’ll be glad for the sleep about three hours into the hike 🙂
Why is everyone getting up this early and why do I need to??
A valid question with a simple answer. This hike ends with a jaw dropping view of the valley and makes for one of the best places to watch the sunrise that I know of. It’s seriously beautiful. Since everyone want’s to catch it, the parking lot gets crowded as early as 2am and you’ll struggle to find a spot. If you don’t want to get up that early, you might try leaving mid-afternoon. Around that time people will be coming down from the mountain and parking spots should open up. You’ll still have competition from the other sunset hikers though. The struggle of parking at this time of day is, in my opinion, more of a nightmare then just braving a (very) early morning.
This year I hiked timp during the off season (sept 1), which gave us a little more of a grace period on the parking. We also made the complete rooky mistake of not checking the weather. Dumb, right? It had been so warm all week that the thought didn’t even cross my mind. So we pulled up to the parking lot around 3:30am and it was fairly empty even for our late start. I attribute that to the fact that college had started for most people so there weren’t many student hikers, and also (probably more importantly) the fact that heavy rain was in the forecast. The point is, if you go early enough or time your hike late in the season, you won’t struggle with parking. You might struggle with a downpour though. Which is an experience I really don’t recommend.
The trail
Alright, let’s talk about the actual trail. The timpooneke trail is super diverse, and it feels like you’re on a bunch of different hikes stitched together. The terrain varies pretty wildly every few miles, as if your doing a series of short, steep hikes with long walks in between. I like to split the trail up into five sections in my head: the first ascent, the valley, the forest, the meadow, and the summit.
The first ascent
For about the first two miles of this trail, it will feel like a pretty standard hike. It’s steep-ish, so it will definitely wake you up. But it isn’t killer. You’ll be going up a fairly consistent incline through an aspen grove, but you won’t see much if you’re hiking at night. This part of the trail has a few misleading off-shoots, but if you look carefully you’ll see cairns pointing you in the right direction, or you’ll notice that a few small branches have been strategically placed to block a well worn path that might have looked promising. This may seem obvious, but again, if you’re hiking in the dark these signs are easy to miss. I speak from experience 🙂 It’s not the end of the world if you do take the wrong route because you’ll come to a dead end fairly quickly. Again, I speak from experience, haha. BUT it’s already a super long hike, so save yourself the mileage and pay attention to the trail.
The valley
The meadow is the first time the hike will level out and give you a bit of a break. You’ll trudge through a little bowl in the mountains and get to catch your breath after the first ascent. It’s pretty, but again you probably won’t see it until you’re on you’re way down after the sun is up. The trail get’s covered in fallen tree branches here, so you might not be able to see it for awhile. This area also may have a bit of the last winters’ snowfall still hanging around. Just head in the general direction that the trail was pointed and you’ll find it again!
The forest
Maybe this is misleading because you won’t be hiking through a proper forest. The trees never get very thick. The trail will get steep again and you’ll be trudging through thin evergreens that frame a stunning view of the valley that you just walked through. This is a shorter section of the hike, and builds up to my very favorite section:
The meadow
Are you a fan of wildflowers? I’m pretty sure they’re my favorite thing in the whole wide world. The meadow offers a long break after the steeper forest trail and is a perfect field of wildflowers. If you’re anything like me, you’ll stop a million times to take pictures. Most of the pictures in this post are from the meadow! If you timed your hike well, the sky will be starting to brighten just a bit, and you’ll finally be able to see the saddle and the summit 🙂
The summit
Okay. This is the long haul, I’ll be honest. You thought you’d just done the long haul but…nope. From the end of the meadow the trail gets SUPER steep. This is the part of the hike where you’ll likely see mountain goats all over the place! They’re so chill, so as long as you don’t try to provoke them, they’ll let you pass pretty close. Which is good, because they like to hang out on the trail!
It’s a short but breath taking hike to the saddle, which is a good rest point before you push to the summit. The saddle is a small flat area maybe half a mile from the top of mount timp, and it’s the first place where you can actually see the city-scape down below. You’ll really get a feel for how far you’ve hiked at that point. It’s a good opportunity to feel proud of yourself before the rest of the hike kicks your booty 🙂
This hike is so long that you’ll feel like a whole new person summiting. Like the you from 1am this morning existed a whole lifetime ago. Every time I summit the thought hits me: “man, I’ve been on this mountain for a longggg time!” The new you will watch a perfect sunrise and trust me, the effort is completely worth it. And so are the bragging rights 🙂
From there it’s a scramble to the top. You’ll be hiking across scree for the rest of the trail and it may look pretty unstable, especially since it’s along the side of a pretty steep drop. But it’s much safer than you think! Just be smart, watch the trail and you’ll be okay.
Things you need to prepare for
- No matter how warm the weather is, the summit will be COLD. It’s pretty exposed up there and usually quite windy. Some people pack up light sleeping bags or blankets to keep them warm while they eat breakfast and watch the sunrise. At the very least, you need to bring an extra jacket!
- Bring electrolytes! You’ll be hiking in the cooler hours of the morning, so overheating shouldn’t be a problem. Still, it’s quite a long hike and you’re going to get very physically tired. Some people pack up gu energy gel or other athletic supplements in addition to electrolytes. While they help, you’ll definitely be okay without them!
- Some people get altitude sickness on this hike! If you’re a relatively fit person I wouldn’t worry about it. If you’re a fairly new hiker, just be aware that it’s a small possibility and hike slowly so you can adjust to the elevation as you go.
- Mountain lions HAVE been sighted on this trail! Attacks are super rare though. If you’re hiking in the dark, bring a good sized group with you and plenty of flashlights and you should be fine. If you’re worried about it at all, do some research on how to deal with an encounter before you hit the trail.
Enjoy your hike!
This post may have sounded a bit intimidating. That’s because I think it’s better to be overprepared for this hike than underprepared! The truth is, new hikers attempt this trail all of the time and summit! And there’s a reason why people keep coming back to do it again year after year. It’s a truly beautiful hike, and a fun day long adventure!
One last tip? After you finish the hike, go get yourself a hamburger. I guarantee you with 14.2 miles under your belt for the day, it will be THE best burger you’ve ever tasted 🙂
As always, safe adventures!
And thank you:) I’m glad you’re here.
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